Never Apologize to Fascists (with Contrapoints)

Video Description

Last week, world-class athlete Simone Biles stood up to failed-athlete-turned-crybully Riley Gaines when Riley antagonized a transgender child to her 1.5 million Twitter followers. A harassment campaign, which has become a standard (and winning!) online strategy for online right, ensued against Simone. The comments flooded in, eviscerating the gymnast (and her sponsors) — “So you want my daughter to compete against boys?” “How many medals would YOU have if you competed against MEN?” And perhaps most jarring, “I guess you want other little girls to get abused the way you did.” Things flew off the handle and became severely detached from reality, as they so often do in these campaigns. Facing endless harassment, Simone apologized, and Riley has been taking a Fox News victory lap ever since. Today, Natalie Wynn (a.k.a. Contrapoints) returns to the show as we explore the anatomy of a moral panic, the harassment campaigns which fuel them, and why you cannot compromise with a fascist. Listen to bonus episodes on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/mattbernstein Thanks to today’s sponsors! Work smarter, not harder, with Factor meals ready in two minutes at https://www.factormeals.com/fruity50off. Get 15% off a cuter, more sustainable way to clean at https://www.blueland.com/fruity. Subscribe to Natalie: https://www.youtube.com/contrapoints Find me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mattxiv/ Find A Bit Fruity on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abitfruitypod/ CHAPTERS 0:00 intro 2:34 who tf is riley gaines 5:45 riley bullies a literal child for clout because that's what "saving women's sports" is about i guess 12:31 the trans sports moral panic 16:36 a Real athlete enters the ring 19:58 “a movement to protect women in sports” oh i'm sure 29:07 shoutout factor! 30:59 tangent: i actually know about gymnastics 38:15 DARVO 40:30 no YOU look like a man 44:56 shoutout blueland! 46:54 the anatomy of a harassment campaign 53:29 an apology that was destined to fail 1:00:06 what do we do about all this